Lake MIchigan Fishing Report

[sparkyaber]

I am heading out next weekend for the second time this summer. We fish out of kewaunee. My last trip out we did not do very well at all just as every one did in the middle of july, hoping next weekend will bring a much heavier bite. My boss is coming back from sheboygan with his limit caught in three trips out of the harbor. Water temps high on the surface and cooling off rapidly as it moves down in the water table, hope that trends northward, I will post how we did.

[Borch]

I just got back early Friday morning from 5 days(0nly got out 3 days) on Washington Island for our crew fishig was slow and salmon very scattered. Not a lot of fish marked even with lots of bait around. Fish we did catch all ran big until the last day where some sub 10 pounders started to show up. Until then all fish were over 14 pounds with our biggest being a touch over 20 pounds. Caught fish on flies and flashers as well as spoons. We didn't do well on glow spoons at all. Caught fish on green/blsck, purple/silver and MOP pro kings. Also did well on green or LBB flies with green and white flashers off down riggers(70-85 feet down) or magnum dispsey(#3 setting 170-190 feet out with 30lb power pro). Got a couple cohos and one laker with the rest being kings.

Tons of dead alewife all over the lake. Seemed to be less of them floating around on Thursday.

[sparkyaber]

Sorry I did not post back, but we pulled the pin on friday morning- the weather sounded pretty bad, so we stayed home and fished mille lacs. I am glad we did not go, really bumpy and fishing was not that good from what I heard. I guess it is still pretty slow over there.

[Borch]

Neighbor headed out to the kewaunee area fishing shoreline near river outlets and did pretty well Friday through Monday. As of Sunday morning he was 11 for 15 with salmon between 20-27 lbs. Sounds like they are starting to stage.

[Borch]

Well we made our annual trip up to Washington Island for a week of salmon fishing 7/25-8/2 and as usual had a great time. Weather always seemed a bit iffy and I can't remember getting out less over that time period than we did this year but we still did ok when we were out.

The key for us was tracking down pockets of cold water as yesterdays spot or water depth was suddenly full of 60 plus degree water the next day with changing winds. We found salmon in 60 -170 fow of water. Several of the spots we had fished had lots of baitfish but not many salmon. Other spots had salmon but few baitfish. We caught fish anywhere from 50 -110 feet down. Almost all of our fish came of the riggers with the mag dipseys getting very little action. Most fish were caught on spoons but at times the flies did very well. The secret weapon rig was a hot one in our boat and the last 4 days accounting for most of the fish going into the box. We had a lot of issues with fish not hooking up good the entire trip. We changed and sharpen hooks regularly as well as tightened releases and increased trolling speeds to try to increase our hook up rates.

The hottest baits for us where the new Moonshine RV series spoons in the mag size. In particular, agent orange, crab face, blue flounder and blue jackel were hot. We also did well on Luhr Jenson diamond king spoons in margarita. Flies that did well were lbb with chartruesse beads and caramel dolphin.

Most of our fish ran 12-14 lbs with our biggest going 16 lbs. Our group of 6 ended up keeping 45. All but 4 salmon had empty stomachs and they ran a bit lighter than usual. Wish I could post some pics but I dropped my cell in the harbor and well, they went with it.

Good Luck!

[DREZLER]

Thanks for the report.

We are heading back out 8/24 and I am a little nervous it's a bit late..

Hopefully we can get into them.

My previous 2 trips in my boat have gotten me 62 Salmon.

[Rick]

The weekly Lake Michigan fishing reports from 7/11/13 are gathered by local DNR officials, angler creel surveys, county and state parks staff. They are compiled. There are always current Wisconsin Fishing Reports and hunting reports as well as outdoor reports in this forum. Enjoy.

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Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Report:

Manitowoc Co.

Watch out for the orange flags and buoys that mark commercial fishing trap nets set in Lake Michigan. Steer clear and give these markers a wide berth to avoid getting tangled and capsizing. Learn where the nets are set on our Trap Net page.

Offshore: Lake Michigan trout and salmon fishing is starting to improve out of Two Rivers and Manitowoc. Water temperatures are rising, and 60˚F to 62˚F can be found in most areas at the surface. A layer of cooler water is reportedly setting up 50 feet down, but this is sure to change with variable wind and weather. Many boats are reporting a good early bite in the top 50 feet of water. Later in the day anglers are having a hard time connecting with feeding fish, though schools of alewives and occasionally game fish are being seen regularly on locators. Boats are fishing many depths, locations, and with many techniques to take fish. It has been described by one angler as a “random pattern out there.” Flies and flashers as well as bright colored and metallic spoons have all worked. Most boats are trolling in depths of 70 to 200 feet of water, but some boats are fishing out deeper for rainbows, up to 12 miles out of Two Rivers. The N.E.W.G.L.S.F Salmon Derby took place from July 5 through the 7th in Manitowoc, and some large fish were caught. A 28 pound chinook took the prize in its division and there were many nice coho, rainbows, brown trout, and lakers caught.

Harbor/Piers/Rivers: Pier and shore fishing has been slow overall, but is slowly heating up. Some brown trout in the 3 to 6 pound range have been caught off the piers in Manitowoc. Casting spoons such as Kastmasters, Champs, Little Cleos, and Krocodiles have worked. Heavy spoons are needed to get as much distance as possible with casts. Few salmon have been reportedly caught from the piers in Manitowoc and Two Rivers. Bullheads are being caught regularly from Vet’s Park and boat landing in Two Rivers. A large pike was caught and released from the Two Rivers harbor. Occasional smallmouth are being caught from area rivers along with channel catfish during lowlight conditions.

Kewaunee Co.

After a hot start to salmon fishing in the KeDoor area, things cooled off significantly during the week; however, the salmon that are being caught are huge (up to 30 lbs.!), so landing one fish can really turn a trip around. We saw 5-15 fish per boat early in the week, down to 1-5 fish per boat by the weekend, with many anglers returning with empty boxes. Part of the reason for the slowdown could be the south wind bringing colder water and the return of the alewives in full force after a brief absence. One can walk the lakeside piers in Kewaunee and Door counties to see the continuous procession of baitfish which, according to weekend anglers, goes out as far as 600 feet into the lake.

The salmon bite has been inconsistent this week, the majority of them are still coming at first light, but quite a few have been spread out during the day, so it could pay off to stay out a little longer if the weather is good. Most anglers start fishing for chinook in 70’ to 100’ of water during the early hours, with bait down 50’ to 80’, then moving out as far as 600’ with bait in the top 50’ to fish for steelhead. Kings are biting best on the fly and dodger combo, while brightly colored spoons work best for the ‘bows. In the past week, some nice 5-7 lb. coho salmon and even the occasional lake trout have been mixed in with the ‘bows in that top 50’.

Not too many anglers have been out pier fishing in Kewaunee County yet, but casting spoons or spawn could land a nice trout, which have been seen swimming amongst the baitfish. The Ahnapee and Kewaunee rivers have many public access points and are nice places to fish for panfish, bass, pike, catfish and bullheads. Look on your map for places where the road crosses the river or parks that are right next to them, like Bruemmer Park in Kewaunee or Blahnik Park in Algoma.

Northern Door Co. and Sturgeon Bay (Lake and Bay sides)

Boaters and anglers: Watch out for the orange flags and buoys that mark commercial fishing trap nets set in Lake Michigan. Steer clear and give these markers a wide berth to avoid getting tangled in the nets. Learn more on our Trap Net page.

After a hot start to salmon fishing in the KeDoor area, things cooled off significantly during the week; however, the salmon that are being caught are huge (up to 30 lbs.!), so landing one fish can really turn a trip around. We saw 5-15 fish per boat early in the week, down to 1-5 fish per boat by the weekend, with many anglers returning with empty boxes. Part of the reason for the slowdown could be the south wind bringing colder water and the return of the alewives in full force after a brief absence. One can walk the lakeside piers in Kewaunee and Door counties to see the continuous procession of baitfish which, according to weekend anglers, goes out as far as 600 feet into the lake.

Sturgeon Bay north to Baileys Harbor has been one of the better places for salmon in the area, especially the bank reef out of Sturgeon Bay. Charters have been reporting 5-10 fish with most success coming by fishing in the top 60’ of water at a depth of 90’ to 130’. Gills Rock and Washington Island have seen a few fish in the top 70’ of water at 80’ to 120’. As reported for Kewaunee County, anglers can pick up rainbow trout on brightly colored spoons fishing in the top 30’ of the water column. Schools of trout have been spotted rounding up baitfish off the piers in Sturgeon Bay.

Bass are still going pretty well in Door County, with many piers, harbors and off-shore islands giving up 5 lb. plus fish, including all the bays and shore around Washington Island, Sand Bay, Andersons Dock in Ephraim, the flats in Sturgeon Bay, and Rowleys Bay on the lakeside. Tubes, grubs and spinners baits are good choices, but don’t be afraid to throw out some crawlers on a slip bobber, just watch out for the gobies. Fishing the bottom transitions in 3’ to 11’ of water is recommended.

Walleye action has slowed around the county, but they can still be consistently found from Chaudoirs Dock south and usually around the islands near Sister Bay. 15’ to 20’ of water with flicker shads, smash shads, reef runners, deep husky jerks, deep diving rouges or crawler harnesses being good bait to try. As the weather heats up, so too should the walleye fishing from Henderson’s Point north, but this time of year, don’t be surprised to see a lot of sheepshead and large alewives taking walleye bait.

Perch action seems to be really good early in the morning, but shuts off around 8am. The newly formed weeds in the Sturgeon Bay shipping canal, Sawyer Harbor, Rileys Bay, Little Sturgeon, the rocky shoreline at George K. Pinney (formerly Stone Quarry), and the docks in Egg Harbor are some nice places to try. On Washington Island, Petersons Bay is reportedly giving up some nice catches. Fathead minnows, crawler pieces, flatworms and leaf worms are all good bait choices.

Muskies have been caught on big spinner and big body bait in perch and walleye colors on the flats and inside the bridges of Sturgeon Bay, Little Sturgeon, and Rileys bay.

Green Bay Fishing Report: July 8, 2013

Brown Co.

Overall, the weather was nice with warm temperatures and increasing water temperatures. Water temperatures were about 75 degrees by Suamico and Geano's Beach and up to 78 degrees at the Green Bay Metro launch in the shallows.

Fox River: Fishing activity out of the Metro launch was moderate, but pleasure boaters dominated the launch over the weekend. Fishermen were targeting walleye with very low numbers being landed. Baits used were cranks baits (purples) and crawler harnesses (copper) in about 10-15 feet of water. Shore fishing pressure was moderate with fishermen looking for walleye and smallmouth bass at the mouth of the river. None were caught, but fishermen did catch catfish, sheepshead, white bass, and a few gobies on night crawlers.

Geano's Beach: Fishing activity was moderate with most fishermen targeting walleye and a few targeting yellow perch. Perch numbers were not high, but the average size was about 8 inches. Perch were caught in about 30 feet of water using minnows. Walleye numbers were low, and fishermen used night crawlers and crawler harnesses (bluegill color) in about 10-22 feet of water. The average size of the landed walleyes ranged from about 17 inches to 24 inches. Other species caught were sheepshead and catfish.

Suamico: There was a lot of activity in and out of Suamico River this week. The majority of the boats were pleasure boaters with few fishing boats being seen. Fishermen were targeting walleye with limited success. Walleye anglers were using a variety of baits including night crawlers, crawler harnesses (purple), and rapalas (any color) and were fishing in 18 to 25 feet of water. A few fishermen were looking for yellow perch using minnows in about 10 feet of water. Very few perch were landed. Sheepshead and catfish were also caught by anglers.

East Shore

Walleye action has slowed around Door County, but they can still be consistently found from Chaudoirs Dock south and usually around the islands near Sister Bay. 15’ to 20’ of water with flicker shads, smash shads, reef runners, deep husky jerks, deep diving rouges or crawler harnesses being good bait to try.

Oconto Co.

Hot and humid weather this past week brought fishermen and pleasure boaters alike out in force. Kayaks and tubers were especially heavy on the rivers leading to Green Bay. The Iron Bridge boat landing overflowed with canoeists and kayakers; some brought fishing equipment with smallmouth being the target species. Spinners, small Rapalas, and live bait were catching some nice fish. A few panfish are being caught by the Stiles Dam using slip bobbers and crawlers. Some walleye and bass are being caught from the mouth of the Pensaukee River to Oconto Park II. Most walleye action has been in 16 to 20 feet of water, jigging with zip lures or tube jigs and trolling with crawler/harness.

Marinette Co.

Hot and humid weather this past week brought fishermen and pleasure boaters alike out in force. Kayaks and tubers were especially heavy on the rivers leading to Green Bay. Sheepshead and catfish are being caught by anglers at the mouth of the Peshtigo Harbor fishing on bottom with crawlers. Perch and salmon fishermen are reporting no fish as of yet. Menominee River anglers are catching some nice walleye, catfish, and sheepshead trolling and fishing from shore using live bait, stick baits and tube jigs.

[Handsonthepole]

Looking at the yesterdays satellite imagery it looks like most of Lake Michigan is ice free. Anyone putting boats in north of Milwaukee yet?

[tunrevir]

I have heard they are fishing Browns up in Algoma.

Tunrevir~

[Crusty old Swede]

Back from Door county, and the fishing is starting to pick up out of Bailey's harbor and Rowley's bay. Lots of bait around both areas, marked a fair amount of fish both places. We had the most action 55 to 75' down in 90 to 100' of water. Flasher-flys (any flasher with a little boy blue fly)did better than spoons with the exception being a magnum Moonshine in the emminator pattern. Best speeds were 2.4 - 3.0 mph GPS. Down rigger or dipsy didn't matter, just had to get to the 55-75' range. Smallest fish was ~3#, biggest 18#, two about 15#, the rest were 8-10#. Also see post in great lakes report.

[tunrevir]

Just got back from my second weekend on the door county peninsula. Algoma a week ago we found fish were active wherever you could find the warm water. First day that was 200-240', second day it was 135-150, third day we caught our fish in 70-90. High dipsies and leadcore off boards shined with both flashers and flies and spoons. 3,5,6,8 color leadcore rigs took a lot of our fish. 3 fish off riggers but 2 came on the last night after I downsized from 12# to 8# balls. Greens and blues were the ticket for spoons and flies. This past weekend we started in Keewaunee with poor results due to the cold surface temps with a fish here and there off dipsies and high board lines but the general consensus was that the water was just too cold. Looked on the NOAA HSOforum and found much warmer surface temps from Sturgeon bay north to Washington island. Hookeed up the boat and ran up to Baileys harbor with good results to start the moring. Started fishing in 70' and caught our first king 30 minutes in on a uv chrome flasher and green Howie fly, Next king came off the 6 color board line on a MS hotlips spoon, Lightning and forcasted storms were moving in so we headed back to the launch at 545 am. Ran to Sister bay waited out the storms and had some breakfast and then headed back to Baileys harbor only to find dense fog. Loaded the boat and headed up to Ellison bay and launched and made a few mile run to Gils rock and began fishing that area, caught a couple small kings on #3 green metallic j-plug on a 1# ball rig. West winds arrived and they blew at a steady 20 mph and the waves began to build so we pulled the plug and ran back to the landing and decided to drive back down to Keewaunee. Did not fish this am, but from the reports on the radio it sounded awfully slow out of Keewaunee this am. If you are headed out be sure to check water temps for the port you plan to fish. Sturgeon Bay and Baileys harbor reports were pretty good all weekend but Algoma and Keewaunee were very slow. North wind forcast for the next couple days should move some warmer water south towards Algoma but it may take a few days before the fish follow and the water begins to stratify. Tough trip and the weather just wouldn't cut us any slack this weekend. August is setting up to be a banner month this year. Keep your eye on the water temps and you will up your odds at catching some fish.

Tunrevir~

[tunrevir]

Water temps are back into the low to mid fifties all the way down to keewaunee with fishing picking up again. Flashers and flies off high dipsies and spoons off the high board lines are putting some fish on ice. Green and blue bubble spin doctors and flashers with green or blue/green flies are getting hit. MS carbon 14 and Moonshine uv blue flounder and Mongolian beef are taking fish. Bite is top 60' from 80 on out with the salmon found in the 80-150' range and lots of bows with a few kings mixed in out deeper. Fog rolled in this morning and kind of shut us down as we wanted to get off the water to avoid any collisions or line crossings.

Tunrevir~

[Simon M.]

Nice detailed report. If you ever need a deck hand for any trips let me know. I am going to be fishing Superior this weekend out of Duluth. I live in Eden Prairie.

[tunrevir]

Sounds good, I will keep you in mind. I am probably done heading over there for the year unless I can sneak over in September. I would like to get up to Superior yet this summer but hard to find a weekend to get it done.

Tunrevir~